Search

the one i got now expires 31 march 2016. so they sent me a letter asking me to renew it. it seems i can renew it by going to their online website, which i tried to do but it failed to register. so that got me a bit worried, that they might think i am a fraud and not give me one. oh dear.

anyway if the online fails they said i can apply via post, so i filled up their form (remarkably, no asking me for £5 or a photo, which they wanted when i first applied). and sent it with a second class stamp.

and now today i got it in the post, using the same photo, which i gave them when i first applied about 3 yrs ago. this time they gave a 5 year duration, instead of 3 yrs for the previous one; it is now valid for 31march 2021. the letter said it had been paid by my borough.

i looked impossibly young in that photo, taken 3yrs ago, and that was why i was afraid they might think i am a fraud. haha. though none of the inspectors who checked it on the bus,ever queried my photo in all the three years i have been using it.

anyway i am so glad i got this renewal. this pass is such a godsend. it makes being old in london (if you are over 60yrs u can have a london pass instead of this freedom pass, which comes in only much later; another of the advantages of being in london) a really fun thing to be.

i try to use it responsibly, in that i try to walk. i am well aware of the danger of not doing any exercise because of this pass. i know it is tempting to take the bus even for short bus journeys of 2-3 stops . it does not save the council much money, because after the 3rd journey by bus the cost is capped. but it might cost u your health. old people must walk and do some exercise. but anyway, i am delighted at having it renewed. and just want to tell someone haha.